Courage
by MaskedBeauty09
Summary: Hunter Lee is on the run from her revenge seeking older brother. She's a L'Cie, and because of that she's considered a walking time bomb, even though she means no harm. She's only 14, and she's already carrying around the burden that she caused her parents death. She's alone on her journey, but not for long when she meets our favorite heroes. :HopexOC:
1. Fugitive

**Courage**

**A/N**: I do not own Final Fantasy 13, or any of its characters. I only own my OC, Hunter Lee. If you are reading this, and you've read my other stories then thank you :) I just hope I'll be able to stick with this story, because I find it hard to write for Wreaking Havoc for some reason :/

* * *

It was raining that day. It was raining so hard, that being outside for a second would result in you being drenched. I didn't want to leave my home, and go outside in the rain, but I had to. It was the only way to keep my family safe.

I failed though. I didn't keep them safe. At least not my parents. Their bloodied forms still remain in my memory, but I know that in order to be strong, I have to leave that in the past. But, it's hard to do that when it only happened yesterday. I haven't cried since yesterday. Knowing that to be strong, I have to hold back my tears, and not show any weakness.

This is the life of a L'Cie.

And even though my parents had died, trying to protect me from the PSICOM soldiers, I still feel like it was my fault. And that's what my brother had told me. He yelled at me in the rain, holding our mother's body, and holding our father's hand. He yelled, "It's your fault! You're the one they were after! You're a monster who should be killed! If the PSICOM can't do it, I will!" That's when I ran, crying, away from the place I had called home.

So, here I am, on my own, trying to survive. I only have my Apocalypse to keep me protected, and my lack of stamina doesn't help me much. But I'm sure I'll make it, and fulfill my focus.

My shoulder-length brown hair, lifted up with the breeze as I looked down at my surroundings with my dark blue eyes from the tree branch I was on. While I favored my mom in apperance, my brother resembled our father. He had abnormal navy blue hair with light blue eyes.

I readjust my black, leather chocker I had received from my brother, Hanley, before the deaths of my parents. I was dressed in the same clothes I had worn that day, which was a white a tank-top with a blue-green sweater over it, and a pair of black jeaned shorts and some combat boots. I knew I wasn't really dressed to be on the run, but I wasn't expecting the PSICOM soldiers to come that night.

I thought that me being a L'Cie was a secret between me and my parents, and brother. That's when I remembered Hanley's words. His words, that I was a monster, and should be dead. He...he probably tipped the soldiers off that I was a L'Cie.

I sighed, brushing my depressing thoughts away. I hopped off the branch, landing expertly on my feet and continued on my journey. Now all I ask is:

Will you join me?


	2. Train Ride to Hell

**Chapter 2**

**A/N: **I do not own Final Fantasy 13 or any of its characters. I only own my OCs, Hunter and Hanley Lee.

* * *

I had ventured far from my home, and in order to go farther I would have to hitch a ride...but the only possible ride is on the trains that are transporting the L'Cies. Of course, I'm already on the PSICOM soldiers wanted list, so if they saw me I'd be captured for sure. The only possible way I could make it, is if I don't reveal my face.

I'd probably be banished to Gran Pulse if they found me, considering all the crimes I've committed recently. My first crime was trespassing, which is how I became a L'Cie. My second...was assaulting a PSICOM soldier while trying to protect my parents. I don't regret anything, but I don't want to be punished either.

So here I am now, in line to board one of the two trains. I was wearing the hood that was attached to my sweater, and my mark was covered by a white bandage on my arm. To any other person, it would just like I had an injury, but no, I had a curse.

I heard a commotion from the line beside me. I looked over and saw a PSICOM soldier gripping a woman's wrist. She glared at him, obviously annoyed. She was pretty, with strawberry blonde hair tied in a side ponytail and crystal blue eyes. She was taller than the soldier, which said a lot. She didn't appear to be a L'Cie so why was she here? But...she looked familiar.

"Hey, move up." the person behind me whispered. I nodded, and headed towards the train, never looking back at the woman.

* * *

The ride was taking forever, and it took so much will power not to fall asleep, for if I fell asleep, then I would lose my chance to escape. My Apocalypse was taken from me and stored in a from not so far from where I was sitting. I was dressed in a cloak, that marked that I was a L'Cie.

I sat quietly in my seat, keeping my head down, still hiding my face. Everyone's hands were handcuffed, so there was no easy way to fight, but I wasn't like these people. They were just normal, unlucky civilians. I was being trained to enter the Guardian Corps. I had a personal trainer, but she stopped training me when I was 7. From then on, I trained myself.

I knew when we were about to stop because a PSICOM soldier would come in and check to see if everyone was still present and that no one had pulled any tricks. I was hinted that we might be at our destination when a PSICOM soldier walked in the room, which was filled with L'Cie. He scanned over the room, his weapon at the ready. And trust me...he was gonna need it.

"1..." I whispered to myself, counting down when I would pounce.

"2..." Once the train went through the vortex...

"3!" I shouted as the train shook from the impact of the vortex. I jumped out of my seat, sliding on the floor towards the soldier. He let out a grunt as my feet kicked his, causing him to fall backwards. The remote he was holding that controlled the locks flew down the narrow hallway. I jumped back up, landing on the controller, breaking it in two. The handcuffs that had kept my hands restrained early, were now gone, along with everyone else's. There were cheers throughout the car, and people immediately got out of their seats.

Not a moment too soon though, two PSICOM soldiers came through the automatic doors, firing their guns. I gasped, caught off guard when a bullet shot through the cloak I was wearing, . In a few swift movements, I took the cloak off. Knocking out one of the soldiers in the process. The last one pointed his gun at me, aiming so the red laser was in the center of my forehead. I didn't give him a chance as I kicked his gun out of his hands, and slid between his legs in order to get past him.

I ran in the room where my Apocalypse was stored, and grabbed it, not stopping for a second as I continued to march through the train. I was panting as I shot at PSICOM soldiers that jumped out at me through the train corridors, knowing I was losing stamina. "Crap..." I muttered, irritated at my lack of stamina.

I stopped at a window to catch my breath, and looked out of it as I watched my surroundings. I smirked, at the view. I had made it to my destination.

BOOM! I gasped as the train shook with great force, making me look up for the first time. I hadn't noticed the ships that flew through the air, shooting at the trains. I looked down at the other tracks and saw several of the trains had already crashed. My jaw dropped at the sight, and my thoughts ventured to the people that were in the trains. '_I hope they're okay..._' I thought. My thoughts were pushed aside when the train shook again. I gritted my teeth as I held onto the window and leaned out, aiming my gun at the airships. I fired a round but stopped when I saw an RPG hit a few. '_Someone already has it covered I see..._' I brought myself back inside.

Just as my body had returned inside the train, it made a big impact, causing the train to crash. I held onto the nearest object and closed my eyes, hoping that I would survive this.

* * *

"Ow..." I said, rubbing my head. I sat up, blinking my eyes. I was still in the train, well, what was left of it anyway. "Hello?" I called out, just in case there were any other survivors. No answer. I sat up, brushing the debris off of me, and flinching as I put pressure on my legs. I looked down and saw that they were covered with scraps, and soon, a couple bruises. I patted myself down, making sure I still had my loose objects on me. "Huh?" I asked myself, patting myself down once more. "Where is it?" I muttered angrily, searching the wreckage with my eyes.

I walked closer to a hole in the ceiling of the train and found my Apocalypse beside some debris. "Thank god..." I said happily, placing my weapon in its holster.

I jumped towards the hole, and caught the edge with my hands, and pulled myself up. I stood on top of the train wreckage, looking around me. "HAH!" I heard a woman yell. I turned towards the source and saw the same woman from earlier fighting a Manasvin Warmech . A tall black man with a brown afro an brown eyes was fighting along with her. I found myself watching, enchanted by the woman's fighting skill. It seemed...familiar, but I couldn't remember where I had seen it before. She fought with an interchangeable sword, much like my old trainer's. Or had she used the same one...I don't know..

The man was using two pistols as his weapon. He had skill too when it came to fighting, but it couldn't compare to the woman's. The man also looked older than her. I continued to study their moves. Every strike they took, and every dodge they made was recorded in my mind. My eyes widened as the machine dismembered part of the bridge, and I could only watch as the man and woman slide down it, and skillfully jump back to safety.

Although the woman landed gracefully on her feet, the man clumsily land on his knees. And- WHA!? IS THAT A CHOCOBO CHICK!? I had never seen one so close before... The chick chirped before hopping back in the man's hair.

I watched in awe as the enemy was defeated, and fell to the pits of Gran Pulse. The woman watched as it fell, as if making sure it would sprout wings and fly back up for more. When she was satisfied, she looked back up, her eyes meeting with mine. It seemed that she had realized something, and she looked as if she was going to call out me when the man beside her interrupted her. "Something wrong?" he asked putting a hand on her shoulder. As soon as she looked back at the man, I flipped off the wrecked train and ran down the tracks, continuing on my way.


	3. NORA

**Chapter 3**

**A/N: **I do not own Final Fantasy 13 or any of its characters. I only own my OCs, Hunter and Hanley Lee. Thanks to **I Was Divided by Zero** for the A-mazing story cover!

* * *

I was in Hanging Edge. That's what I heard survivors say anyway as I walked by them. I saw many families huddled together, their marks visible on their skin. The children were in tears, or either trembling crazily. My face spared no emotion as I continued to walk down the abandoned road. I walked around small pieces of debris, and jumped over the larger pieces.

Luckily, someone was handing out water and other supplies so I snagged some and cleaned myself up. I no longer had dirt and soot on my face, and my scrapes were some-what cleaned.

I would glance behind me every so often to check if I was being followed... I wasn't worried about one of the other L'Cies, I was worried about _him_. My brother, Hanley. My _big _brother, who was only three years older than me. The one that used to protect me, but was now hunting for my blood. After I stopped and listened to my surroundings, I continued to walk, being cautious of any soldiers.

I was forced to stop though when I came to a broken piece of track. I frowned upon the sight and leaned over to see what was below; another track. I sighed and readied myself for the jump. The track was aways down, but I knew a way to soften my fall. Taking a deep breath, I leaped off the platform, and free-fell to the one below. Right when I was 10 ft. above it, I pressed a button on the side of my sweater, allowing a cape-like piece of fabric to pop out. I held it above me, and it acted as a parachute, and helped me safely to ground.

I pressed the button again, making the cape retract itself. I began to run down the road-way, ignoring the chaos going on above me. I was breathing heavily, and decided to stop and take a breather. I needed it, that was for sure. I sat behind a large piece of debris, and began to catch my breath. I automatically quieted my breathing when I heard footsteps on the other side of where I was sitting. I slowly moved my hand so it was on the handle of my Apocalypse, and readied myself for any incoming enemies. I cautiously looked over the debris, and quickly crouched back down at the sight.

There were three PSICOM soldiers patrolling the area. It looked as if they were looking for any L'Cie survivors of the train crashes. Taking a firm grip on my weapon, I leaped over the debris and shot at the soldiers, only managing to wound them. I dodged their hits, and purposely inched closer to one. When I was close enough, I slid under his legs and slashed him with my Apocalypse. "One down." I breathed to myself, blocking a hit from one of the other soldiers.

As I twisted my body into a flip, I kicked the soldier's neck, hearing a disgusting 'crack' sound when I was on my feet again. I was losing energy again, and there was still one soldier left. I readied myself, and went into a defensive position. To my surprise though, he didn't shoot at me. Instead he ran towards me and rose his weapon as if to hit me. I reflexively blocked it with my gun, but the hit made it fly from hands and onto the ground across from me.

I gritted my teeth and went to slide under the man's legs like I did the others. But he saw it coming. He raised his gun in the air and brought it down towards my head. Luckily I saw his intentions and moved out of the way, but not quick enough for him to not jab my left shoulder. I grunted and forced myself to spin from under him, causing him to lose his footing and fall. I didn't like the soldier. He was different from the others. He even had a different uniform. It was all black, including the helmet that was protecting his face. This soldier seemed to act like he didn't want to kill me...but who's to know for sure?

Stuffing those thoughts away, I took my chance and pulled myself up, running towards my gun blade. As I picked it up, I looked back at the fallen soldier that was clad in black. He was unconscious. By the looks of it, he had hit his head on one of the small blocks of rock that were scattered along the track.

After one last look, I ran forward again, never looking back.

* * *

As I ran further, I saw that the security was getting stronger. I was hiding behind some cargo boxes and large pieces of debris. I peeked around the box I was behind and frowned, gritting my teeth at what I saw.

The area was secure with PSICOM enforcers; another branch of the PSICOM units. They belonged in the Shock Troops. They were stronger than the PSICOM soldiers. I recalled this information from when I was being trained to be a Guardian Corps soldier. My trainer's name was Miss Claire. Well, that's what I called her anyway. She was like an older sister to me, and I was like a younger one to her. I knew she already had a younger sister, but she was older than me by a couple years. Miss Claire was probably 15 when she stopped teaching me...I'm not positive. I know I was 7 when she stopped coming...

I brushed my memories away and continued to scan the area. I took note of a PSICOM warden that were further down. The wardens were even more fierce. They were in the Hunters branch. That wasn't all though. There were two PSICOM aerial recons circling the area. The obviously were in the Airborne branch. Luckily I was hiding in the shadows, so they couldn't easily see me.

There were also Pantherons lurking around in front of the enforcers. Pantherons are militarized units. They are in the Razorclaw branch...

I snapped my back into the shadows and placed it into my knees. I felt like crying. How could I do this? _'I just want to go home...' _ I thought to myself, but I knew I never could. Not until I fulfilled my focus anyway, and also until it was safe. Meaning that my brother wasn't still after me.

I took deep breathes and decided that I wouldn't be able to take down that many enemies at once. If I even attempted to, I would probably die trying. So I decide to use another approach; dodge them. I was going to sneak by them, and pray to whoever was out there that they wouldn't spot me.

I slowly slid between the cargo boxes and inched my way pass the units. I was still in the shadows so I was pretty sure the aerial recons couldn't spot from their jetpacks.

'_Almost there_..' I though, holding my breath as I neared the end of cargo box trail. Once I was past them I blew out a sigh of relief and placed my hand on my heart. It was beating fast, I could even hear it in my ears.

I moved so I was crouching, and began to slowly move away from the people that were able to kill me.

"HEY! OVER THERE!" I heard someone yell from above. I looked up and saw that one of the aerial recons had spotted me. Not leaving a moment to spare, I ran for it. I ran for my life, dodging the bullets that were coming my way. I pushed myself to run faster when I heard the mechanic growl from one of the Pantherons. They sounded so close...and they probably were.

As I ran further down the track, I took note that there more L'Cie fugitives farther down. They were armed with weapons and their backs were facing away from me, meaning they were fighting off enemies that were in front of them at the moment. '_Well, I can't just let them get shot in the back..._' I though as I threw my hands in the air, still dodging bullets. I screamed at the top of my lungs, "HEY! THERE"S MORE OVER HERE!" I reached down for my Apocalypse when I neared the debris that my fellow L'Cie victims were covering behind. I flipped over it, snapping out my blade as I as in mid-air.

"Woah! Nice move!" A young man said from beside me. He looked to be 19, and had shoulder-length blue hair. It was the same color as my brother's but my brother's hair was shorter and was wavy. This man's hair was straight and layered. I nodded my thanks and began shooting at the troops alongside him, catching my breathe as I did so.

He began to speak over the gunfire, "I'm Yuj by the way. What's your name?" I could feel him glance over at me. I answered, never looking away from the enemy. "Hunter."

He awed as I shot a soldier in the head, "And how old are you?! You look _way_ younger than me! You even look younger than my friend Maqui!"

"I'm 14." Yuj stopped shooting for a minute and looked at me awe-struck. "Wha-"

"WATCH IT!" I yelled, pulling him down. A bullet lodged in the rock where Yuj's head used to be. I looked into his eyes and spoke sternly, "Rule #1 in combat; _Never_ take your eyes off the enemy." I released his grip and returned to shooting at the soldiers, ignoring the surprised look on Yuj's face.

When the last enemy was down, I turned and leaned back on the debris, closing my eyes. I felt eyes on me and opened my left eye to find Yuj staring at me. I sat up, opening both eyes, "Yes?" I said, looking up at him. He was certainly taller than me. He looked to be around 5'8, while stood at 5'0. He shook his head, and placed his hand in front of me, offering to help me up. I reluctantly took it, and he spoke. "Nothing..it's just, I can't believe you're only 14! You fight even better than our leader Snow! Man, I'm 19 and Maqui is 17 but you still kickass better than us!"

I looked at him questioningly, "Leader? Are you in a gang?"

Yuj chuckled lightly, "Sort of. We're in a group called NORA! It's an acronym that stand for 'No Obligations, Rules Or Authority'! Me, Snow, Maqui, and our other friends Gadot and Lebreau are in it! Hey, maybe you'd like to join?! But, you'll have to wait until Snow gets back..which I don't know when that will be.."

I shook my head, "No thanks. I have to be on my way anyway." I began to walk away when Yuj called out to me.

"Wait! At least wait until he gets back! I'm sure it'll be soon! Besides, it's safer to be with other people, and we have food and other supplies that you can use!"

I stopped in my tracks. '_Crap...but I have to keep moving. What if Hanley is here, and is searching for me? But, they have supplies..._' I turned around to face Yuj, "Okay. I'll stay. But not forever."

Yuj smiled and waved me over, "Okay! Then come over here! I'll introduce you to everybody!" He spoke cheerfully as he lead me to a small group of people that were surrounding a small fire. Some of the people were shaking, holding their heads and mumbling words that I couldn't understand. Others were holding each other and whispering comforting words to relieve them. Then there was a group of three people that were chatting to each other lively. And that was where Yuj was heading.

"Hey guys!" Yuj greeted, receiving three 'heys back. The group consisted of two guys and one girl. The girl had brown hair, and brown eyes. She looked to be the same age as Yuj. Sitting beside her was a bulky looking young man. He had dark skin, to which made his bright orange hair stand out all the more. He looked to be in his early twenties. Beside him was a younger looking boy, that looked to be 17 or 16 years old. He had blonde hair.

The girl spoke to Yuj first, "So Yuj, who's this?" she asked gesturing to me with a cock of her head. I stood there quietly, no emotion on my face as I studied them all. Yuj turned back at me and looked back at the girl with a smile, "This is Hunter, Lebreau! She was helping us take out the soldiers!" The two males and Lebreau's eyes widened. The bulky one spoke this time, and looked at me. "How old are you kid?"

"14." I said simply. My answer made their jaws drop, and caused Lebreau to gasp. The blonde then hopped up from his seat on the debris and walked towards me. A smile that just screamed 'This is mind-blowing' was plastered on his face. "Wow! Seriously? And you were fighting off the bad guys?! That's wickedly amazing!"

Yuj agreed, "Yeah! And she was kicking butt too! She even saved my life! Not to mention that she did an awesome flip to make it to cover! That was a nice entrance by the way!" The last sentence was directed towards me. I nodded when the Lebreau stood to come towards me. She pointed down to my Apocalypse. "Whoa, and you were taking them down with _this_?! That looks like one mean machine! Hey Gadot, look at this thing!"

The dark skinned man obliged to his being beckoned and walked over to where we were. His eyes widened and he whistled, "That's one hell of machine you got there! Where'd you manage to get one? Usually gun blades are reserved to top trained Guardian Corps soldiers.."

I looked down at my weapon and brushed it lightly, "It...was a gift."

The blonde began to speak again, "I'm Maqui, by the way... And what brings you out here? All alone I mean?"

I unconsciously brushed the bandage that was covering my brand. "No reason." I said nonchalantly. But that didn't seem to feed his curiosity, and by the look of it, the others were interested too. "You said you were 14, right? So where are your parents."

My head snapped up quickly and my eyes met his. But I quickly looked back down when I realized I had looked at him with sorrowful look. Seeing this, Lebreau changed the topic, "So who wants food?"

She reached for one of the packs that were leaning against some rocks and dug through it. She pulled out several things of food and began to pass it out to the other people that were sitting near the fire. She eventually gave us some food too. It wasn't much, just a bag of crackers. But, honestly, that was all I needed at the time.


	4. The Cocky Leader

**Chapter 4**

**A/N: **I do not own Final Fantasy 13 or any of its characters. I only own my OCs, Hunter and Hanley Lee. Thank you so much, **blazeice9967 **and **Elzhu** for following! Also thank you, **roelaine** and **LadyAmazon** for following _and _favoriting! **YumeFiction** and **Elzhu** thanks for reviewing! **I Was Divided by Zero** does amazing cover art as well, she made the cover for this story!

* * *

"So where are you from Hunter?" Maqui asked me, trying to start a conversation as we munched on our food.

I shrugged, "Palumpolum."

Maqui, along with the others widened their eyes. Lebreau spoke first, "Wow, that's pretty far away from here! How did you manage to get here so quick"

I shrugged my shoulders once again, never looking up as I ate my crackers, "On foot and then on train."

Yuj lightly shook my shoulders and I looked up at him through my bangs, "Damn kid. You sure know how to get around!"

I slowly nodded my It head, returning to look back into the fire. It then grew quiet again, the only sound being our breathing and the crackle of the fire. Although, you could gunshots in the distance, along with battle cries and screams of pain. I looked over my family when I heard a small sniffle. Behind me was a mother and her daughter, cuddling together under a jacket. The little girl was crying while the mother held her protectively. I turned away, knowing I would only grow sad at the sight.

That's when the ground began shaking violently.

"EVERYONE! MOVE!" Gadot yelled, grabbing a hold of his gun as he began to run away from the shaking. I looked behind me as I ran after Gadot, and the rest of the group and saw that the bridge was collapsing. I quickly faced forward again and ran as fast as my legs would take me.

"Almost there guys!" Lebreau yelled pointing with her pistol at another piece of bridge. I was running beside Maqui when I heard a scream, and quickly stopped in my tracks. I turned around to see the little girl from earlier had tripped over her feet, and had fallen flat on her face. Without giving it a second thought a skid over to her and quickly pulled her onto my back, glaring at her mother's back. The woman hadn't even looked back when her daughter fell.

I ran, trying to catch back up with group, and gasped when one of my news buckled. "No.." I gritted through my teeth. The little girl was crying into my shoulder, her black hair sticking to my back. "Don't cry. You're gonna be okay." I told her quietly as I pulled myself back up again. I looked over my shoulder and saw that the bridge was still collapsing, and it was getting closer. I frowned and continued running, watching as the group of people in front of me who were already at the safe piece of bridge grew gradually closer.

"We're almost there." I spoke calmly, but willingly to the small girl on my back. She squeezed her brown eyes shut, and held on tighter as the bridge began to crumple from right behind me. I knew I was near the edge of the collapsing bridge when I felt my foot slip a couple times. Once again, a frown appeared on my face and a look of determination followed it. Just as my feet finally fell over the edge, I took the little girl off my back and threw her at Yuj. "Yuj! Catch!"

As the bridge caught up to me, I heard the group yell, "Hunter!"

I narrowed my eyes as I quickly pulled out my blade and hooked into the side of the bridge. I sighed in relief as I looked below me to see the pieces of the bridge fall to their doom.

My hope ran short when the piece of bridge my sword was hooked on began to crumble. I gasped as I fell, but was stopped short when a hand grabbed a hold of my wrist. "Gotcha!" The voice spoke. It was man's voice. I looked up and saw a man with blonde hair under a beanie, with grey eyes. He grinned at me as he lifted me up and into his arms. I frowned at that. And quickly squirmed out of his arms. He laughed and ruffled my hair, "You okay kid?" he asked, as Gadot, Lebreau, Yuj and Maqui ran up to me.

"Hunter!" they each yelled, looking down at me. I sighed and walked over to the small girl I had saved, ignoring the man's question. I crouched down to where she was, beside her mother and patted her head, "Are you okay?" I asked calmly. She nodded her head and smiled, forcing me into a hug. My face held somewhat of a smile. And I gently pushed her away as I stood up again. I looked over my shoulder to where the blonde man stood, along with my new "friends" you could say.

"I'm fine." I said, finally answering his question. "You must be Snow." I said, looking him up and down.

He smiled, and rubbed the back of his neck, "I guess word is getting out about NORA!"

I stared at him and simply shook my head, "No. Yuj told me about you. And by the way you act, I inferred that you were Snow. Obviously, I was correct." I walked away, going further down the bridge.

Snow called after me, "Hey, wait! Stay with us! We need to work together!"

I stopped, "For what?" I asked.

He raised an eyebrow, "Huh?"

"Why do we need to work together?"

"To help save other survivors!"

I sighed and thought to myself for a minute. "Seems fine. Okay, then."

I could feel all the smiles that appeared on the group's faces, "Let's go!" They all shouted.

I sighed, "As long as we get farther from him.." I muttered to myself, walking beside Snow.

* * *

"There's so many of them." Lebreau whispered to us as she watched PSICOM soldiers guard some the train-crash survivors.

Snow smirked, "That's not going to stop me!" I rolled my eyes at his arrogance, and continued to survey the area. The citizens were still wearing the cloaks the soldiers had forced them to wear.

I looked back up at Snow, "Ready, when you are." He grinned, looking back down at me.

"Now!" Snow yelled, signaling for us to attack.

Lebreau was firing her pistol at some of the soldiers, while Gadot, Maqui and Yuj did the same. I was using my blade to slash our opponents, while Snow was using brute force to push them away. "Get back!" he yelled at the people. They quickly obeyed his orders and scurried backwards. During the process, one of the cloaked people tripped, causing their hood to fall off, exposing their white hair. The boy was my height, and had green eyes.

Our eyes met for a moment, but I was soon snapped out of it when my blade blocked a hit from a PSIOCOM soldier.

I kicked at him, knocking him down. I flipped, finishing him off before helping the others. The soldiers were soon taken care of.

I watched as Snow basically preached to the people, telling them that we had to fight and work together. I glanced over at the young boy, who looked to be around my age. His eyes widened when he saw that he was watching me. I smiled lightly to myself, so no one else would see. I looked back at the boy, and then at the woman he was standing beside. '_That must be his mother._' I thought to myself.

She had blonde hair that looked to be fading, along with the same green eyes the boy had.

"So who's with me?" Snow shouted. I watched as some of the survivors began to remove their cloaks and walked over to retrieve a gun from Yuj and Lebreau, who were passing them out. I held my breath as I watched the young boy's mother walk up too.

I looked over at the boy, and saw the worry and sorrow in his eyes. The woman smiled at her boy, "Don't worry Hope." She grabbed the gun that was being held out to her and moved to be with the rest of the small army.

I watched as a young woman held Hope's shoulders as if to comfort him. I could see red hair peeking from under the hood of the cloak, and her green eyes seemed to glow as I stared at them. I glanced at Hope once more before turning to Snow. "This is where we part." I said looking into his eyes.

Snow frowned, "But, you're just a kid. You should stay with us, we can work to-"

"I'm fine on my own," I turned and walked away, but stopped when I was beside Hope. I looked over my shoulder at Snow, "Trust me." Before I sprint away, I looked down at Hope, who was sitting on the ground. Our eyes met, and then I was gone.


	5. Hanley

**Chapter 5**

**A/N: **I do not own Final Fantasy 13 or any of its characters. I only own my OCs, Hunter and Hanley Lee. The cover was created by **I Was Divided by Zero**.

Thank you, **LadyAmazon** for reviewing!

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* * *

After I left Snow's group, I was on my own. But that was what I had planned since the day I ran away from my brother.

I was currently walking on the side of some abandoned tracks, my blade in its sheath. It was still dark out and the only light was from the buildings that surrounded the whole area. The only sounds I could hear were the tapping of my footsteps as I walked along the metal road.

I had been walking for an hour, and I had run into only a few groups of PSICOM soldiers. The silence was bothering me... Something just didn't seem right, and I kept feeling as if someone was following me.

I continued walking, but tried to quiet down my footsteps so I could hear if there was someone behind me.

_Clack. Clack. Clack._

When I heard another pair of footsteps behind me I slowly moved my hand to my gun blade. Just as I was going to pull out my blade and confront the person there was a blade on my throat and I was being held by my shoulders.

I gulped as I looked down at the shiny silver dagger that was pressed onto my neck. I focused my eyes forward when the person spoke with a dark chuckle, "Hello sister."

My eyes widened at the all too familiar voice. "H-Hanley!" I spoke out, my voice husky from the pressure on my neck. I didn't know how he found me, or how he got here. But I knew he would get to me soon.

Hanley chuckled again, "Sad to see you're alive and well...But, I guess we'll have to fix that!" He smirked and put more pressure on the dagger. I gasped as I felt a light blood trail run down my neck, but I knew the cut wasn't deep enough to kill me...yet.

I stomped my foot onto Hanley's, causing him to yell out in pain. He loosened his hold on the dagger, and a twisted his arm away from my neck, putting it behind his back.

Hanley wouldn't back down so easily though.

Hanley quickly recovered, and used his free hand to grab another dagger that was hidden in one of his boots. He slashed at me, making me release him and jump backwards. I cursed under my breath when I saw the small cut on my arm. I could see the smirk on my older brother's face at his accomplishment.

I glared at his form that was clad in black clothing, and pulled out my blade. "What do you want brother!?" I asked in a cold voice.

Hanley only cackled at my question. His light blue eyes sparkled with malice and a hint of insanity. "You know what I want little sister! I want _your_ blood on _my_ hands!" He charged at me, a dagger in each hand.

I braced myself, waiting to dodge his incoming attack. He swung one of his daggers down and I blocked it with my blade. But that was my mistake.

As I blocked one dagger, he still had use of the other, and I didn't have anything else to block that with. His free hand came down into my side and I groaned when my skin met with the weapon. I automatically dropped my blade and dropped to my knees, clutching my side.

Hanley smiled wickedly, "I see you still can't match my skills Hunter."

I snarled at him, "Shut up."

He laughed, "Why? I'm enjoying myself!"

I put pressure on my wound, trying to slow the bleeding. I couldn't tell if the cut was deep, but I knew it hurt. A lot. I weakly reached our for my blade, and panted out "I...said..shut..up!" I got a hold of my blade and went to lift it up, only to be stopped short by Hanley placing his foot on it.

He shook his finger in my face. "No-no-no-no! I can't have you fighting back! That would just ruin my plan to kill you slowly!"

Hanley raised his daggers into the air and was about to make them pierce my skin when a loud siren began to blare throughout Edge.

"Damn it!" Hanley muttered under his breath. He looked back down at me, "You're lucky this time baby sister!"

I slumped to the ground as Hanley ran away from me. Tears rimmed my eyes but I forced them not to fall. As much as I wanted to cry, I knew I couldn't if I wanted to become a stronger person.

Taking a deep breath, I pulled myself up and walked forwards, noticing for the first time a building in the distance. It was large, and looked to have more than one entrance. As I got closer to the entrance I voice came on, silencing the siren. The voice was broadcasted all around Edge, telling all Purge citizens to stop fighting. I blocked the rest of the unimportant message out as I reached the building.

I coughed as I rested against the giant double doors. I weakly placed my blade back in the holster and continued to rest against the doors. I closed my eyes and took deep breathes, trying not to focus on the pain in my side.

My rest was short-lived when I heard a mechanic growling from ahead of me. My eyes snapped open, revealing two Pantherons in a battle stance. "Crap." I said as I turned towards the doors. I scurried to pull them open, but to no avail. I knew I wouldn't be able to hold my own in this condition.

I looked over my shoulder and saw the Pantherons charging at me. I furiously shook the handles on the doors. Just when I thought all hope was lost, the ground caved in from under me, taking me down with it.

* * *

I woke up in a building, rocks surrounded me, they were most likely from the ground that caved in. I squinted up at the hole above me, and saw where I was standing just some time ago.

I slowly pulled myself into a sitting position, wincing as a sharp pain shot through my side. "Ow.." I whispered to myself, examining the wound. The bleeding had stopped, but if I didn't tend to it properly it would become infected. When I bent my neck downwards to get a better look, a pain went through my neck. I quickly placed a hand on my neck and removed it to see blood on my fingers...dry blood. "Oh yeah..." I muttered, remembering when Hanley had a dagger to my throat.

I held onto my side as I pulled myself up. I rubbed the dirt off of my clothes the best I could, and continued to take off my sweater and tie it around my waist, making sure to cover my wound along with the blood stain on the sweater.

As I looked around I finally noticed the size of the building I was in. It was huge. So huge that if I talked normally, my voice would echo. The floor was marble and was a pretty blue-green color. Other parts of the floor was tiled white and gold. The beauty was taken away from the machinery looking walls that were grey. Just by looking at walls I could tell I wasn't in some building; I was in an aircraft.

Keeping my guard up, I began to walk through the airship, looking for a way out.

As I walked down some steps I came across two abandoned air bikes. I could see steam coming off the engines, showing that whoever came here crashed, and that it was recent.

I continued walking, and took notice of the many dead Pantherons and Zwerg Scandroids.

"They're fighters.." I whispered to myself.

I silently prayed that all the enemies were already taken down by these mysterious fighters, and I only hoped they weren't my enemy either.

As I was walking I discovered another air bike, only this one's engine was cooler than the others. The bike was beside a wall of debris, but it was clear that you could climb over it. I did a 360 and noticed that there weren't any other places to go.

I began to climb the debris, putting a blank expression on my face to hide the pain I was in.

On the other side of the debris was another open space, with orange laser-like things pointing up towards the ceiling. "Beautiful..." I said as I looked at the lasers shake ever so slightly, lighting up the room.

My thoughts were stopped when a familiar voice boomed throughout the airship, "Hang on baby! You're hero is on the way!"

"Snow.." I said frowning at his over-confidence. Shaking it off I continued to go up and down steps.

I was led to a small tunnel that opened out to a more extravagant area. It reminded me of the castles like the ones from the books my mother used to read me.

I stopped my thoughts and bowed my head. "Mom..." I took in a deep breath and pushed all thoughts of my family away. "I won't cry. No more crying." I said to myself, making a silent promise.

I moved to go forward but stopped short when I saw three familiar people standing on a platform in the center of a room, fighting what appeared to be Cieths. I backed away quietly and hid in the shadows. I knew I was quite ready yet to fight.

After the fight was over, Snow left Hope and the red-headed girl after having a short conversation. That was when Hope fell to his knees, breaking down.

"H-he calls himself a hero!? Because of him, my mom's dead!" He cried. My eyes widened. He...lost his mother... That brave woman who went to fight... He lost her... I knew exactly what he felt... only I had the shorter end of the stick. He probably still had family left for all I knew, but...I have no one.

I heard more footsteps and Snow's voice reentered the room. "C'mon! We should stick together! I wouldn't want you two to get hurt while I'm gone!"

I watched in the shadows as the three walked away. I began to think back on what Snow said about his fiancé, Serah. That name... it reminded me of my old trainers sister's name. I never did meet her, but my trainer talked about her a lot.

I sighed, and counted to ten before following Snow, Hope, and from what I picked up, Vanille's footsteps down the large corridors.

* * *

I hadn't run into Snow and them again. Currently I was resting against the wall of the ship.

Everything was fine until the ship started to shake violently. I held onto whatever I could and rolled over whenever a piece of the ship came crashing down. "I have to get out of here." I said, quickly pulling myself up.

The army was probably attacking the ship.

I made my way, scaling the wall, trying to find an exit.

And I found one all right. I found it when the walls of the air ship started collapsing, and I could feel the ship fall.

The last thing I remember before I was engulfed by darkness was a cooling sensation.


	6. Miss Claire

**Chapter 6**

**A/N:** I do not own Final Fantasy 13 or any of its characters. I only own my OCs, Hanley and Hunter Lee. The cover has CHANGED! I made the cover this time! I feel so proud of myself! And yes, that is Hunter in the cover. Sorry if the chapter is too short for your liking! I was playing the game so I was writing with the story line, but sadly I got stuck on a part, and I didn't want to keep you guys waiting any longer.

Thank you guys:

**Reviewers: **_Elzhu_, and _xXFallen-Angel-Of-DarknessXx_

Okay guys, it's that time again...POLL TIME! I'm ready to start on another FanFiction and I have a few planned out, all I need is help on deciding which one I should begin! I'm posting a poll on my profile so go give it a look please!

* * *

I gasped as I quickly shot up. I looked around quickly at my surroundings, "Lake...Bresha..." I whispered to myself as I stood up to do a 360.

My hand went to my holster, checking to see if my Apocalypse was still there. I sighed in relief when my hand touched the metal.

Suddenly a sharp pain shot through my head, and I dropped to my knees, clutching my head. Images shot through my mind at lightning speed. I was surprised when I was able to make out some of them. "This again?" I asked myself as I put my head in between my knees. Every so often, I would receive these visions, and it was always the same one. My focus. That was what the images were trying to tell me. All I could see though was 5 familiar people. Was I supposed to help them? Is that what my focus was?

Finally feeling better, I slowly stood up and began walking in a random direction, hoping to find a way out of here.

I walked, wary of my surroundings; keeping my guard up. Sure, I had heard of Lake Bresha, but I had never seen it before. I did, however, know about the creatures that lurked in it.

I knew they were nothing to take lightly if you were a regular _civilian_, and that's why I figured I had nothing to worry about. But, sometimes I forget...that I'm only 14, and I'm not that tall.

I was at the edge of a small cliff when I heard a commotion going on down below. I reflexively put my hand on my gun blade, and peaked over the edge to see four people fighting a variety of Cie'ths. Well, more like three. One person just stood to the side, clutching a weapon.

I continued to watch the skilled moves of the fighters.

My eyes narrowed as I saw Winged Cie'th fly towards the one person who was clutching his weapon without their knowing. I leaped off the edge and flipped in mid-air, allowing myself to land in front of the person. I heard him gasp and jump back in surprise at my sudden appearance. I ignored him, and blocked the attack of the flying creature, letting out a grunt as its tail hit my blade.

"Move!" I yelled at the boy behind me. I knew he had listened when I heard the clamor of footsteps from behind me. I pushed my blade towards the creature and threw it off me before swinging at it with my blade. I landed a hit to its spinal cord; instantly killing it. I somersaulted backwards when another dove down towards the spot I had just been standing in.

I quickly jumped back up and took down the creature with the help of a man with an afro; he looked just like the man I had seen fighting with that pink-haired woman. "You're that girl!" the red-headed girl I had seen with the group of survivors called out; fighting off some Cie'ths. I glanced over at the boy I had saved, and sure enough it was the one by the name of Hope. He was staring at me, a slight pink on his cheeks, which I couldn't help but quirk my lips to.

I focused back on my enemies, spinning as I hit one after the other, with the help of Vanille, the black man, and the familiar looking strawberry blonde haired woman.

Soon enough, they were defeated, and all eyes were on me as I put my weapon back in my holster. The man spoke to e first, "So who are you? You must be someone to have skill like that." he laughed.

I nodded at him, "Hunter, and you?"

The man pointed to himself and then to the woman, "I'm Sazh Katzroy, and that is Lightning Farron."

I froze at his words and quickly looked over at the stoic woman, who was avoiding contact with me. She had a frown on her face, and I asked "Farron? You're last name is Farron?"

She looked over at me, and my eyes clashed with hers. I held my breath as I took in her appearance. She nodded her head and looked away, "Yeah."

She...this...is she- Miss Claire? I continued to stare at her until she sent a glare my way forcing me to return my focus to the others, who still hadn't introduced themselves.

Vanille happily shook my hands, "I'm Vanille! Nice to meet you Hunter!"

I nodded, growing slightly annoyed at her loud voice. Trying to avoid anymore conversation with her, I turned to Hope. He rubbed the back of his neck and smiled sheepishly. "H-Hi, I'm Hope. Thanks for uh- saving me back there."

"You're welcome." I said, "Just, be careful." At my words his cheeks changed color and he looked away again.

"Y-yeah."

I heard Sazh chuckle, "Okay you two, enough of that!"

I just stared at him blankly, not really bothered in the least. Hope on the other hand, blushed harder and quickly denied that we were flirting.

"We should keep going." I heard Lightning say in a stern voice as she lead the way, not even looking back to see if we were following her.

As the others ran to catch up to her, I stayed behind, turning around to walk in the other direction.

"Hunter! Where are you going?" I heard Vanille yell at me. I stopped and looked over my shoulder to see the whole group of four had stopped. Vanille had a look of confusion on her face; as did everyone else...well except for Lightning. She still had that stern expression on her face.

I pointed in front of me, "This way."

"Huh? But why?" Vanille asked.

I shrugged my shoulders, "Just to go."

Hope then yelled over at me, "Y-You should come with us!" He immediately went red in the face after he realized what he said. I turned fully around so that I was facing them. I then remember my focus. All of these people were in my vision. I had to help them.

I slowly nodded, "Okay."

Vanille squealed with delight, "Yay!" She ran over to me and pulled me by hand and then ran back over to the small group. Hope was smiling, and Sazh was laughing. I glanced over at Lightning and could've sworn I saw a look of relief on her face before she quickly went back to the stern expression.

Lightning began walking again, and this time I followed.

* * *

We were walking in silence for awhile until Hope broke the silence from his place beside me. "So how old are you...J-just asking! Not because of anything else!"

I stared at him and nodded, "14." I could've sworn I saw his eyes light up.

"O-oh, me too!" he smiled cheekily.

Noticing I wasn't going to start the conversation again, Hope changed the subject. "So, uh, where'd you get that? It's similar to Light's."

I looked at what Hope was gesturing to and saw my Apocalypse. I gently brushed my fingers across it. "It was a gift. A gift from someone important to me. She was my personal trainer, Miss Claire."

Lightning suddenly stopped, causing me to almost run into her. When I saw Hope was going to, I quickly pulled him back by the shoulder. "Thanks" he muttered, and then turned to Lightning.

"Is something wrong Light?" Sazh asked the woman.

Lightning slowly shook her head, "N-No. Let's keep going. We can go a little farther before it gets dark."

"Roger." Sazh said in return.

* * *

It was nightfall, and we had set up can't in a small, crystallized cave.

Everyone was sleeping, except for me and Lightning.

We were both sitting across from each other at the camp fire. Everyone once in awhile I would look up to find Lightning staring intensely at the fire.

"You should go to sleep." Lightning suddenly said, making me snap my head up fast.

I shook my head before looking back down, "No thanks."

Lightning rolled her eyes, "Suit yourself."

After awhile I looked back up at her, "Are you...her?"

"Who?" she asked me slowly, as if thinking of what to say.

"Miss Claire..."

Lightning went stiff, and didn't look my way. "I don't know who that is."

I clenched and unclenched my fists, "You're lying. I know you are. You look exactly like her, you fight like her, you sound like her, and you even have the same gun blade as her."

Lightning stayed steady and replied, "Coincidence."

I sighed, "Okay. I understand. I won't tell anyone. I just...wanted to tell you th-"

"Go to sleep." Lightning snapped at me.

I looked at her, sadness and hurt in my eyes before getting up and walking towards the wall where everyone was sleeping against. With my back turned to her, "It's great to see you again Miss Claire."

As I lay down, I could've sworn I heard my old trainer say, "You too."


	7. Discovery

**Chapter 7**

**A/N:** I do not own Final Fantasy 13 or any of its characters. I only own my OCs, Hanley and Hunter Lee.

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* * *

I felt myself being shaken as I was pulled from sleeping state.

"Hunter? Hunter get up, we're getting ready to move." I heard the familiar voice of Hope say.

I cracked my eyes, slowly opening them so I wouldn't be blinded by the new lighting. "Hope?" I questioned, still a little out of it.

I sat up and came face to face with my peer who adverted his eyes as a slight blush came to his face. "Y-yeah... U-um, Lightning told me to get you up because we're setting out now."

I nodded and rubbed my eyes before running a hand through my brown hair. Hope, who was crouched down beside me stood up and offered me his hand.

I stared at it before grabbing it and allowing for him to help me up. "Thanks." I muttered, picking up my Apocalypse from the ground.

"Y-you're welcome." Hope said clearing his throat to stop his stutter. I inwardly smiled at his embarrassment and walked out of the cave with him to see Sazh, Vanille and Miss Claire.

"Let's go." Lightning said, sparing me a small glance before walking onward.

Sazh and Vanille walked side by side behind Lightning, who led the way while me and Hope were behind the three.

I glanced over at Hope who had a sad expression on his face. Looking ahead again I asked, "What's wrong?"

Surprised by my sudden question, Hope jumped a little before saying, "Oh, uh, nothing..."

I sighed, "It's better to talk about it."

Hope was silent before he took a breath and slowed his pace, furthering our distance from the others so they couldn't hear us. "My mom...she...she died..."

I glanced at him again, a little surprised. "I'm sorry for your loss... Do you still have your father?"

"Ye-yes..."

I frowned, not liking his answer. "It's not that bad then."

He scowled at me, "What do you mean!? My mom, sh-she's dead! How is that not bad!?"

I blinked at his tone and calmly answered, "You still have family to go back too. You should be grateful." My voice may have been calm but you could still sense the anger behind it.

I looked forwards again before increasing my pace so I was behind Vanille and Sazh again. Not a minute later, Hope was beside me again. He whispered, "Did something happen to you..." he asked.

I nodded, not looking back at him. I didn't want him to see the flash of pain that passed through my eyes.

"Do you," Hope cleared his throat, "want to...talk about it?"

I slowly turned my head towards him and nodded again, slowing my pace to once again put a gap between us and the others. "It happened recently... I was at my home in Palumpolum."

"Palumpolum? That's where I'm from!" Hope exclaimed surprised. "Maybe I've seen you before!"

I shrugged and continued my story, "I was already a L'Cie and my parents had been keeping it a secret in order to protect me. However...one night the PSICOM soldiers came because my older brother, Hanley, told them that a L'Cie was spotted near his house. My parents were gunned down by PSICOM soldiers while trying to protect me. Now, I'm on the run from my brother who had vowed to kill me."

Hope took my hand and looked into my dark blue eyes with his blue-green ones, "I'm _really_ sorry! I-I didn't realize tha-"

I sighed and squeezed his hand before saying. "It's fine. You didn't know. Just... no more sulking..."

Hope smiled at me and pulled me behind him while he walked back to the group.

Vanille noticed that we had lagged behind and smiled at us mischievously, "What were you too doing, huh?"

Hope blushed and quickly replied, "N-Nothing! We were just talking!"

I looked at him before looking back at Vanille, "Exactly."

Vanille just smiled and winked at Hope, "Mhmm~ sure you were!"

Hope's face got redder as he tried to convince Vanille to believe what he said. As Vanille continued to tease Hope, Sazh turned to look at me over his shoulder, "I see you and Hope have developed a small friendship." The man smiled down at me to which I just shrugged.

"I guess. We haven't talked to each other much."

"But I can already tell the boy's taken a liking to you. He's probably glad to have someone here that's his age."

I shrugged once again, returning my attention to my former trainer.

* * *

I watched Lightning, as that was she calls herself now, glare at the rock wall. "Dead end, huh?" she said.

"M- Lightning." I said, getting her attention.

"What?" she asked sternly, crossing her arms as she turned around to face me.

I gave her a blank look before pointing over my shoulder at a broken down PSICOM machine. "Maybe that will of some interest."

She nodded before walking over to inspect the machinery. I followed behind, walking with her to greet Vanille and hope, who were already there.

"Lightning! Look!" Vanille said excitedly, presenting the object to Lightning.

Hope examined once more before turning back to Miss Claire, and nervously saying, "It's...It's kind of torn up. I don't think we can use it."

My old trainer gave it once over before backing up a little and crouching, "It looks operational."

At that she leaped up to the top of and kicked it with force, causing the gun machine on it to fire at the wall we were once looking at.

I stared as the rocks fell, revealing a way to continue on our journey. But all good things come with a price.

A scowl appeared on Lightning's face when dozens of Bloodfang Basses appeared through the rubble of the rock wall. She unsheathed her blade as did I. Sazh pulled out his Dual Pistols and Vanille and Hope got into a defensive position with their weapons as well.

Lightning charged forward, the rest of us trailing behind. She was first to take out one of the Basses.

I swiped at one of the creatures, nipping its side as it hopped over me. I leaned backwards, bringing my sword around me so I could stab it's stomach from where it was over my head.

I shook it's dead body of my sword and charged at another ruthless enemy, switching to my gun and firing at it and then another.

I glanced at the others to see how they were doing. Hope had just taken out a few with his Boomerang, and Vanille took out one with her Staff. Sazh was in mid-air as he shot at a group of the Bloodfangs, and Lightning was standing her ground, flipping here and there while firing her gun blade.

My attention was brought back to me when I was knocked down by one of the fish-like creatures. I grunted, causing the others to glance over at me.

"Hunter!" I heard Miss Claire shout. I ignored her, leaping back up on my feet.

"I'm fine." I said, brushing the slime off of my sweater. When I glanced at my teacher I saw a bit of relief flash in her eyes before she returned to the hardened shell known as Lightning.

The Bloodfang Bass I was pursuing shot at me, to which I dodged, ending up beside Hope.

"How're you holding up?" he asked, fighting off a Bloodfang of his own.

"Fine." I replied, slashing the Bass as another appeared behind it.

Hope gave me a nervous smile, "Good."

I could tell he wasn't used to this whole "violence" thing, considering the way his arms were shaking and how his attacks were clumsy. But in due time, he'd become accustom to it. Just like I had.

Lightning finished off the last creature and sheathed her weapon before continuing through the new opening she created. She wasn't even panting. "Let's go."

I wiped my forehead, trying to catch my breath as I followed after her along with everyone else. "Right." Hope said, panting as well.

As we walked, once again, it was me and Hope who were behind everyone. But this time it wasn't by choice. We were both worn out, and tired. I guess I'm not the only one with a low Stamina.


	8. Hope's Promise

**Chapter 8**

**A/N:** I do not own Final Fantasy 13 or any of its characters. I only own my OCs, Hanley and Hunter Lee.

**Thanks to: **Sparky the Pixel (_Reviewing_), Tabby34x (_Following_&_Reviewing_&_Favoriting_)

Thank you for your support! It keeps me going knowing there are still people reading this story :D

* * *

We hadn't even walked that far when we came across another monster. This was much to me and Hope's dismay, considering we were still out of breath and recovering from the fight with the Bloodfangs.

I saw Lightning scowl at the creature as she flicked open her gun blade, preparing the sword. I gulped and readied my blade as well, albeit slowly.

Lightning seemed to take notice of me and Hope's fatigue as she grunted. She didn't even look over her shoulder as she spoke, "Hope, go find somewhere safe; take Hunter with you."

"But-" Hope started, obviously too stubborn to just up and leave. I on the other hand was grateful for the chance of a break and quickly took it.

I interrupted Hope by taking his hand and running forward and away from the Alpha Behemoth. "She said to go, so we're going!" I explained as I looked at Hope over my shoulder. I took notice of his red cheeks and cocked an eyebrow. He must not be use to this kind of social interaction.

When Hope's eyes met mine he quickly looked away, his cheeks growing redder. I just shook my head and face forward again as I stopped at a small crevice that was wide enough for the both of us to fit.

"I think we're safe here." I said, silently trying to regain my breath.

Hope nodded, panting slightly. "Y-yeah."

I slid to the ground and pulled my knees up to my chest as I rested my head on the crystallized wall.

Hope stared down at me before slowly moving to sit beside me. He sat with his legs crossed and started to focus on his fingers. "So, um, that was some good fighting back there." He stated nervously, peering at me with his blue-green orbs.

"Mhmm..." I mumbled as I closed my eyes, the feeling of drowsiness taking over me as I slowly faded from consciousness.

* * *

Hope's eyes widened and he felt his cheeks heat up once again. He began to grow flustered at what to do and ended up just watching her.

Hunter had fallen asleep and was now lying on his lap. He stared down at her, not wanting to wake her. She looked peaceful and less sorrowful when she was asleep. He felt a smiled come to his lips.

He noticed that he had been smiling to himself a lot lately; it started when Hunter joined the group. She just brought a warm and fuzzy feeling to his heart. He didn't know how to describe it; he just knew it made him happy.

His watched as his hand began to inch closer to his peer's face and brush some of her dark brown locks out of the way of her precious eyes.

Hope blushed again. She was pretty, he knew that much. He also knew she was carrying a lot of things in her heart; he knew she was in danger of being murdered by her own flesh and blood.

Hope's smile slowly transitioned into a frown at the thought of his new acquired friend being slaughtered by her own brother. It made him feel sick to his stomach, and it wasn't just because the killer was her brother; it was because he didn't want her to die. He didn't want to lose anymore of his precious people. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not ever.

The white-haired boy clenched his fists together and a serious expression made itself known on his face as he promised himself, that he was going to protect those dear to him. Never again, would he let them slip from his grasp and from his life forever.

I familiar optimistic voice brought Hope out of his thoughts and made him jump a little, "AW! They're so cute together!" Vanille cheered her accent showing.

Sazh chuckled, "Did we interrupt something?"

Hope's eyes widened as he blush profusely at the comments, "Wha-?! Yes! NO! I-I mean no! We weren't doing anything!"

Sazh laughed again and placed a hand on Hope's shoulder, squeezing it lightly, "Don't worry kid, I was just joking'. Now, you don't want to wake her up, do you?"

Hope calmed himself down and shook his head, "W-Where's Light?"

"Right here." said woman answered, appearing from behind Sazh. "We need to get moving, pick her up so we can go."

Hope gave Lightning a surprised look before looking back down at Hunter and then back at the pink-haired woman. "You want _me_ to pick her up?" he asked, not confident he could do so.

Lightning, gave him a stern look and crossed her arms, "Who else is there? Do you not want to hold her?" she questioned.

Hope waved his hands defensively in front of him, "N-no! It's not like that! Of course I want to hold her! I-I mean, uh, I mean I don't think I'm strong enough..."

Lightning narrowed her eyes, "Don't you want to become stronger?"

Hope nodded.

"Then start working on it now. Carry her and let's go." Lightning didn't wait to see if Hope would protest again as she continued to walk towards their destination. Sazh and Vanille glanced at each other, giving the other a knowing look before they turned to catch up with Lightning.

Hope watched as they adults walked away and gulped as he gently removed Hunter's head from his lap. He then crouched down in front of her and placed an arm under her knees and another below her neck. He then slowly stood back up and made his way towards where Sazh, Vanille, and Lightning were heading. He could feel his muscles burning from the added wait. It wasn't like Hunter was fat or anything, Hope just wasn't strong. Not. At. All.

* * *

The group had been walking for some time before they stopped at the edge of a cliff. They were all crouched down, including Hope, who just held the still unconscious Hunter in his arms while laying the bottom half of her body on the ground.

"There's so many of them..." Hope muttered as he watched many PSICOM soldiers march left and right, fully armed.

Sazh's face held concern, "They must be hunting for Purge survivors."

Vanille frowned, "I hope everyone made it out okay."

The dark-skinned man nodded, "So do I..."

"Mmm..." Hunter grunted, slowly opening her eyes and looking around. The first thing she had spotted was those familiar blue-green eyes.

"Good. You're awake." Lightning spoke, while still surveying the soldier's base. It was a huge building, but the cliff gave the group a great view.

Before Hunter could ask where they were, the ground began shaking. The brunette was wide awake at that point.

"W-What's that?" Vanille asked, looking around for the source.

Everyone was beginning to stand up now and drawing their weapons as they looked for where the shaking was coming from.

"There!" Lightning shouted in a tone that was only loud enough for the people near her to hear. Lightning was pointing at the row of airships that were flying around them. "There sealing off the area. We've got to get moving! Lightning demanded as she set off again, traveling down the hill they were on. Everyone quickly followed after her, not seeing a point in arguing.

* * *

As the group made their way down the mountain like structure and sometimes up it, they ran across several kinds of enemies and creatures. The most being the latter.

They had battled off against PSICOM Trackers, as well as some Watchdrones. So far, no one had suffered anything other a few scratches and some pretty nasty looking bruises that, lucky for them, were hidden beneath their clothing.

It was now dark out, and the group still hadn't found a safe place to take refuge.

"Lightning!" Vanille whined, "Can we just sit down and take rest?"

Hope was seemingly surprised at how the usually hyper girl was now trudging along, begging Lightning to let them take a break. He didn't blame her though, because he was just as tired. Hunter looked a little worn out too, despite the nap she had taken earlier in the day.

Hope blushed thinking back to that moment but his attention was redirected when he spotted something in the distance, "Hey Light, is that a cave?" he asked, pointing towards the object in question.

Lightning stopped and squinted her eyes, "It is. We'll be sleeping there tonight; first we have to make sure that it's cleared out"

Everyone nodded, slight relief showing on their faces with exception of Hunter who just stared blankly at the path in front of her.

"Let's go." Lightning directed and led the group to the crystallized cave entrance.

Everyone had their weapons armed and ready to use at any warning of danger. Lightning led the way, while Hunter was behind her. Hope held his boomerang close as he stood beside Hunter. He glanced back every so often to check on Vanille and Sazh, who were taking up the rear.

"So far so good." Sazh said as the passed a section the cave safely without any disturbances.

Lightning spoke to him, keeping her eyes focused on her surroundings, "Don't drop your guard yet."

Sazh nodded, even though Lightning couldn't see him and began to twirl his dual pistols around.

"Watchdrones!" Lightning called out as said drone flew towards them. There were at least three of them, and that seemed to be no problem to the adults of the group, for they quickly took them down before Hunter or Hope and any time to dive in. Hunter allowed slight emotion on her face, showing her disappointment as well as confusion. Sazh and Vanille were behind her and yet, they got to the drone before her and Hope.

Sighing, Hunter continued forward, as well as the rest of the small horde of people.

"Please let that be it!" Vanille chimed, showing how tired she was once again.

Lightning then came to an abrupt halt, causing Hunter to barrel into the back of her. Hunter moved beside the young woman to see what was wrong, "Miss Claire?" she whispered so only Lightning could hear.

Lightning nodded her head towards the front of her. Hunter followed the nod and realized why Lightning had stopped; they had found the exit of them cave, and it had a good view of what looked to be an abandoned temple, but there was a good chance that it was something else.

"We'll set up camp here." Lightning told the others as she walked away from the exit of the cave. She sat slightly deeper into the cave, showing no signs of going to sleep just yet, Hunter suspected she was going to take first watch.

Hunter walked over to Lightning as the others tried to make the cold, crystal floor comfortable enough for them to sleep on. "Wake me after your watch. I'll do second watch."

Lightning nodded, "Go get some rest, you'll need it."

The 14 year old nodded and made her way back towards the others. Hope was the only one to greet her, considering Sazh and Vanille were already out.

"Hey Hunter," Hope smiled at her. Hunter cocked his head, noticing how he hadn't stuttered or avoided her gaze. '_Hm, he must be used to interacting with me now_.' Hope gestured towards a spot beside him, "You can sleep here."

Hunter eyed the spot before accepting it and laying down on her side, her back facing him. "Thank you, Hope." she said before her eyes fluttered closed and she fell into a dreamless sleep.

Hope smiled at her back, seeing as he was lying on his side, facing her. "Goodnight, Hunter."


	9. To Protect

**Chapter 9**

**A/N:** I do not own Final Fantasy 13 or any of its characters. I only own my OCs, Hanley and Hunter Lee.

**Thanks to: **

LadyAmazon (_Reviewing_), Sparky the Pixel (_Reviewing_). Lady Kato (_Favoriting_&_Following_), SwirlingEpiphany (_Following_), LilKatez94 (_Following_), Guest (_Reviewing_)

**Guest: **Thanks for the review :) I'm really glad you like the story so far and that you like how it's written I hope you continue to read it! :D

I now have a new website, so please go take a look! The link is on my profile!

* * *

A few hours shortly after Hunter fell asleep, Lightning woke her up. "Hunter. Get up." The girl heard her old trainer whisper.

She slowly opened her eyes and sat herself up, knowing exactly why Miss Claire had disturbed her sleep; it was her turn to take watch.

Hunter silently took out her weapon, and was now alert and awake despite the fact she just woke up. Lightning watched her with sad eyes, wondering what happened to the fun loving girl she used to train. Her eyes may have shown sorrow, but they also were filled with strength and determination.

Walking back to her spot, Lightning quietly called to Hunter, "Next watch is Sazh."

"Alright, Miss Claire." Hunter replied stoically, not looking to her former teacher.

Lightning gave the girl one last look before lying down and drifting asleep. She hoped her dreams would be of all the happy and good times she used to share before all of this L'Cie business.

She wanted to dream about her little sister, Serah and she wanted to dream about her favorite and only pupil, Hunter.

* * *

The next morning, everyone was up and ready to move forward in their journey to complete their focus.

"Alright. Let's move." Lightning said, not bothering to wait for anyone as she walked onwards to the proclaimed abandoned temple.

Hope was in step with Hunter purposely, while Sazh was on his left and Vanille on Hunter's right.

The preteen couldn't help but groan when he saw the many steps that led up to the ruins.

Vanille laughed at his reaction and began to skip ahead of the group, "What's wrong, Hope? This is _so _fun!"

Hope just huffed in response, while Sazh laughed at the girl. Lightning seemed to ignore the red head while Hunter narrowed her eyes. "Expected." the girl said, mostly to herself.

The boy beside her caught whiff of it and turned his head, taking her words as a chance to converse. "What?" he asked, wanting her to further explain what she said.

Hunter glanced at him from the corner of her eyes, "Her energy. It's expected."

Hope smiled and nodded, "Oh! That's what you meant!" He laughed lightly, but it quickly died off when he received no response from the girl.

He mentally sighed, running out of ideas that he hadn't even possessed.

As the group trudged up the many steps, an idea struck him and began to talk again, "So, uh..these are a lot of steps."

Hunter nodded. Hope bit his bottom lip and looked to Sazh for help only to find he was ahead of them. A smirk was on dark skinned man and he flashed Hope a 'go-get-em' grin before facing forward.

Inside his head, the white-haired boy groaned. Not appreciating the non-helpful gesture.

Looking back at Hunter, he saw she was breathing slightly more heavily. She obviously didn't have that much stamina. "Uh...Hunter?" he asked the brunette.  
She nodded at him again, letting him know she was listening. Hope gently grabbed her wrist, pulling her to a stop.

Confused, Hunter looked down at him, seeing as she was on a step higher than he was. The confusion wasn't shown on her face, but Hope could see it twinkle in her dark blue eyes.

Before she could ask, Hope walked past her so he was a couple steps higher. He then crouched down, gulping as he prayed to whomever that she wouldn't just stare at him like he was some creep.

He looked over his shoulder and smiled, "Hop on." he said before adding "if you want" as an afterthought. He turned his head so it was facing forwards again, so Hunter couldn't see how red his face was. A million thoughts rushed through his head as he thought about how badly he was going to be rejected.

To his surprise though, Hunter took him up on his offer.

This was confirmed by the added weight on his back. He smiled to himself victoriously as he slowly stood up. He may look scrawny like a stick, but that didn't been he was as weak as one. Yes, he wasn't _that_ strong, but he wasn't so weak that he couldn't hold a female peer.

He adjusted Hunter so she wouldn't slip off his back, and hesitantly placed his hands on her thighs. He then began to walk up the steps, albeit slower than before. That didn't matter though, because this was the pace the Hunter would be going if she didn't stop and take a break. And he knew that Lightning wasn't planning to stop for awhile, so he would act as her break.

Hunter's head was lying on his shoulder, and he could feel her breathing on his neck. His face automatically heated up, especially when the girl whispered in his ear, oblivious to what she was doing to him. "Thanks, Hope."

Hope could only nod as he continued to walk up the steps.

From up ahead, Vanille was already at the top. A look of horror was on her face as she raced back down the steps."Guys!" she called.

Lightning and Sazh stopped, and waited for Vanille to reach them. "What is it?" Lightning asked, a stern and serious expression on her face as she looked to Vanille. Her eyes occasionally glanced to the top of the steps. What waiting beyond them couldn't be seen due to the slope.

"There's another creature there! I think it's an Alpha Behemoth!"

Lightning's eyes narrowed and she pulled out her weapon, as did Sazh. Vanille's was already out from where she reflexively armed it at the sight of the Alpha.

Just as they did so, Hope had caught up, Hunter still on his back. Hunter looked ahead, to see how many more steps. Seeing as there wasn't many, she attempted to release herself from Hope's grasp.

However, Hope only tightened his grip, thinking she was slipping.

Hunter then spoke, her breath hitting his ear again. "Hope, you can put me down now."

"O-Oh! Sorry!" he said, quickly crouching back down.

Hunter then armed herself, seeing as the others had done so. "What's wrong?" she asked.

Lightning looked down at her, "Behemoth..."

Hunter nodded and her eyes flashed with an intense fierceness. Also hearing the news, Hope readied himself with his weapon. "We'll help." he stated, looking at Lightning somewhat nervously. It was obvious he was still scared about the whole battle thing, but the young woman had a hunch that he would grow used to it. Especially with the world they were living in.

Sazh butted in, "Are you sure we-"

"No. They can help." Lightning interrupted him before marching up the steps, already prepared to fight the large creature.

Hope smiled, reached towards Hunter to place a hand on her shoulder as encouragement. But he stopped short, afraid that it was too much too soon.

As if Hunter sensed someone reaching towards her, she turned to look at Hope, who quickly snatched his hand away from her view. He smiled at her, laughing nervously.

The girl just blinked before nodded her head to the adults, signaling that they should probably catch up.

He nodded back at her before they both ran up the remaining steps.

As soon as the two youths caught up with Lightning and them, the Alpha was already running towards them.

Battles cries were heard, spells were cast and metal met with the beast's skin.

Lightning was attacking in the center, while Sazh was on the left and Vanille on the right. Their positions left little room for Hope and Hunter, unless...

Hunter grabbed Hope's wrist and pulled him towards the fallen columns on the side of the structure. "What are you doing?" he asked, wanting to at least _try_ and fight the Behemoth.

Hunter released his hand only to leap over a column. He followed after her as she began to secretly make her way around the Alpha Behemoth. "We're going to attack from behind." she stated simply when she reached a good stopping point.

Hope nodded in understanding. They were currently behind the creature they would have to defeat, crouching behind one of the many fallen columns. "Ready?" he asked.

"Always." she replied, flipping herself over the broken marble. She charged forward, her gun blade ready. She stayed silent as she slashed at the Alpha's backside, getting a good hit in.

The creature roared in surprised and pain, and its tail swatted at her, as it never bothered to look back.

Hunter jumped over the tail, landing in a backwards somersault. Hope watched, still behind the column, dazed until Vanille's cheer brought him back to reality, "Good hit, Hunter!"

Hope then climbed over the column as he ran towards the Behemoth. Still running, he threw his boomerang with a flick of his wrist, grinning proudly when he hit the large creature in the same spot as Hunter did, making the wound worse.

'_Yes!_' he cheered happily, almost getting hit by his own weapon when it flew back to him.

Lightning, Sazh and Vanille seemed to be dealing a lot more damage to the Behemoth than Hunter and Hope, but that was understandable considering of the adults' strength and in Hope's case, experience.

With one last swing, Lightning dealt the final blow. The Alpha Behemoth keeled over, slumping lifelessly on the ground.

"Phew," Sazh said, wiping the sweat from his brow, "That was some workout."

Vanille giggled as she nodded. She was slouching and panting, as was the rest of the group. Lightning being the only one who still stood up straight. Hunter did as well, but she was still panting heavily.

Not even announcing that they were moving on, Lightning walked forward ignoring the groans and complaints of some of the more emotional members of the small group.

No one begged to take a break, knowing that Lightning wouldn't allow it considering the Behemoth had already taken up so much time.

The group proceeded to travel through the destroyed stone building, jumping over columns, crawling through craters and hopping from ledge to ledge when some were reached.

"What..happened here?" Vanille heard herself saying as they walked down a pathway. Surrounding them were what used to be the walls of the structure.

Sazh looked at the remains, "What _didn't _happen here?"

"A battle." Lightning said as they walked.

"A...battle?" Hope asked, suddenly curious.

Lightning nodded her head, never turning to look at him. "It was most likely a battle ground for PSICOM soldiers and L'Cies. I wouldn't doubt that some used to hideout here until they were discovered. I wouldn't be surprised if we ran into some soldiers that were stationed here."

Hope's eyes widened, before he looked down sadly at the ground. He didn't like the whole L'Cie thing. It put a lot of unwanted pressure on him, and it also gave him the stress of possibly becoming a Cie'th.

He found his eyes wandering over to Hunter, '_What about Hunter? She's been a L'Cie longer than us...how long does she have? What's her focus_' Hope felt fear and sickness wash over him at the thought of seeing the girl he probably had a crush on become a Cie'th. He didn't want that to happen to her. After all, he promised himself that he would protect her.

"Hey Hunter." Hope said, looking at said girl and then to the bandage wrapped around her wrist. Underneath was her brand.

"Hm?"

"What's your focus?"

Hunter seemed to stop walking for a second before she regained herself and continued onwards. "To help someone."

Hope quirked a brow, "Someone?"

His peer nodded, "It's actually a group of people."

"Oh..." he said, not wanting to pry further. For all he knew, her focus was just as hazy as his. He didn't want to add onto her stress if she wasn't sure who exactly she was supposed to help.

Little did Hope know, that Hunter knew exactly who she was supposed to help. She knew what her focus was.

To help and protect them: Lightning, Sazh, Vanille, Snow, and even Hope himself.


	10. Chaos

**Chapter 10**

** A/N:** I do not own Final Fantasy 13 or any of its characters. I only own my OCs, Hanley and Hunter Lee.

**Thanks to: **Sparky the Pixel (_Reviewing_), LadyAmazon (_Reviewing_), dreamfar101 (_Following_)

* * *

"I'm getting really sick of this landscape..." Hope mumbled to Hunter. Thankfully for him she glanced at him before giving him a faint smile.

It was faint, but it was still something. Although, her eyes didn't match the happiness her smile did.

Hope frowned a little at that, but Hunter was too busy looking ahead to notice. They were still in the large abandoned temple. That was what they assumed anyway.

The place had been overrun by the enemy, so every so often the group would find themselves having to battle. As tiring as it was, Lightning refused to stop for breaks until they were unable to walk anymore. Meaning that they were walking until it got dark and they couldn't see where they were going.

Sazh whistled as he looked at the large hallways they were walking through. There was no ceiling and if there was, there wasn't much of it. No columns were left standing; either fallen to the side or crumpled into pieces. "This is a big ass place."

Vanille sighed happily, "Sure is!" she then proceeded to twirl about in front of the group, making sure not to hurt anyone while she dilly-dallied.

Lightning was leading the group as usual, a scowl on her face as she took in her surroundings. She was tense and on alert, not letting anything go amiss.

Walking along the path, the group soon stopped. In front of them, the path split into two.

Vanille was the first to speak, "Which way do we go?"

Lightning examined both paths, "They lead to same place. We'll split up and meet where the paths end." With that, Lightning took off down one path, leaving the others to decide which way to go on their own.

Sazh looked to Vanille who was already venturing down the opposite path; she stopped and turned back, waving at Hope and Hunter. "C'mon guys! Sazh, you can go with Lightning!"

Hunter frowned, not really liking the idea of having to go with the perky girl. Hope, sensing her discomfort, took her hand and began leading her down the path Lightning went down. His face may have been red, but he ignored it as he yelled back to Sazh and Vanille. "N-no, that's okay! Me and Hunter are going this way; you guys go down that path!"

Not even waiting for their response, Hope walked a little faster in an attempt to escape their protests. Lucky for him it worked.

The two preteens could see Lightning's form _way_ ahead of them, so they took to walking so they wouldn't waste their energy.

They walked in silence for a few minutes before the young brunette broke it. "You didn't have to help me. I was going to go this way anyway."

Hope looked at her with a surprised look, not expecting her to say anything. "W-well, I...I just felt like..."

"Like?"

"Like I had to help you."

Hunter stared at Hope in silence before looking away, confused at his words. She hadn't heard those words before. There once was a time when _she _was saying those words, but never had she been on the receiving end.

She wouldn't admit it of course, but she quite liked the feeling that came with those words when Hope said them. Her stomach felt lighter, but that was it.

Sighing she asked, "Why did you come with me? You didn't have to."

Hope's cheeks burned at her question. He knew the answer, and if he told her he would probably suffer from severe embarrassment. "Well, u-uh...I just..." lowering his voice to a whisper he said, "wanted to be with you."

Hunter raised an eyebrow, "What was that?"

Hope looked away, "N-Nothing!"

Hunter gave him one last look of confusion before dropping the subject and facing ahead again.

Hope felt him sigh in relief, but couldn't help but feel his face go red when Hunter spoke. This time her voice holding a somewhat amused tone. "I was joking. I heard you."

"W-what!? You did!?"

Hunter let out a small laugh, something Hope never had heard her do before. And he thanked the Heavens that he was there to hear it. He loved the way t sounded; so angelic and innocent.

He smiled at his small victory, because he knew he was breaking past the walls she had built.

Ahead of them, Lightning was smiling to herself, having heard her student's laugh. Something she hadn't heard in quite awhile. When meeting the new Hunter, she feared that the girl's laugh would never reach her ears again.

Now though...she had hope. Hope that came in the form of a preteen that shared the named of said word. She knew that with his influence, Hunter would return to the way she was before her world began to fall apart.

Maybe, just maybe Hope was going to be the one to put it back together again.

* * *

The group met back up in front of what looked to be an exit to the large broken down building they were in.

Sazh and Vanille, who had reached there first, greeted them happily. Well, Sazh just waved and smiled while Vanille jumped up and down while calling their names.

She was a sight to see, Hunter thought.

The group made their way up the steps they believed that led to the exit. Vanille skipped ahead of the group, wanting to look around.

The steps led them to a clearing in the temple, which set Hunter on edge. Clearings were always a good opening for a battle; meaning enemies could be hiding and waiting to ambush them.

Hunter made her way beside Lightning and lightly grabbed her shoulder. "Miss Claire..." she whispered.

Lightning looked down, acknowledging her. "I'm not so su-"

"VANILLE!" Sazh shouted, as soon as Vanille came running back towards them. Behind her followed a huge creature, known as a Garuda Interceptor .

Everyone readied themselves for a battle, and spread out as to give each other room. Hunter had back away from Lightning, putting herself near Hope.

As soon as Vanille made it back to them, the Garuda landed in the clearing with a crash. The rubble that was already there flew from impact, heading towards the group.

"Get down!" Lightning shouted, dodging out of harm's way. Sazh and Vanille followed suit. Just as Hunter was going to do the same, hands were around her waist and pulling her backwards right when a piece of rubble landed right where she had been standing.

Hunter opened her eyes which she had closed in reflex to see Hope hovering her. His light blue-green eyes were staring into hers. His face was beet red, but he never looked away.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his voice concerned and gentle, "I-I moved as fast as I could!"

Hunter slowly nodded her head, not sure what to do in this situation. That strange feeling that had overcome her early was back again, and she was pretty sure her face was hot, but she blamed that on the adrenaline.

"Hope! Hunter! Get your asses into battle!" Lightning's voice ordered, knocking them out of their daze.

Hope hurriedly removed himself from over Hunter and helped her stand up. After sharing an awkward head nod (in Hope's case) they ran back towards the Garuda to help out.

"Is everyone okay?" Vanille shouted, sending Cure spells to everyone individually.

"Think so!" Sazh shouted back, flipping his Dual Pistols when he had to shoot at a different angle.

"What is this thing?" Hope asked, tossing his boomerang and successfully landing a hit. He caught his weapon before throwing it again as Hunter began to explain what they were up against.

"It's a Garuda Interceptor. It's weakness is wind so I suggest using Air related spells!" She was shooting at the large creature from afar, while Lightning was up close and slashing at the thing.

"Got it!" Sazh and Vanille replied, already conjuring up spells.

"What are you doing?" Hunter asked when Hope stopped using his boomerang and then began to put his hands together.

"I'm preparing some spells." He said, focusing on his glowing hands.

"You're a magic user?" Hunter asked, slight surprise in her blank tone.

Hope nodded before launching an Aero spell at the same time as Sazh and Vanille.

Receiving his answer, Hunter ran towards the beast, her blade in hand. Right as Lightning struck down with her own blade, Hunter landed a hit as well. Both hitting vitals.

"It's weakening!" Lightning shouted, dealing another blow.

Just as the Garuda seemed to fall over and die, it flew back up into the sky, glowing a brilliant blue. "What's it doing?" Sazh asked, shielding his eyes from the sun.

Lightning gritted her teeth, frustrated with the monster. "It's recharging."

"Crap." Sazh promptly replied, reloading his guns.

"Crap is right." Lightning said, shooting at the now descending creature. "Get ready!"

The group continued to shoot and slash at the thing with all they had. The magic users launching spells whenever they weren't using their weapon.

The Garuda seemed to be slowing down, but it wasn't enough. Not yet.

"Hope, Sazh, Vanille!" Hunter yelled, getting their attention, "Launch your spells at the same time! Stagger it! Then switch back to your weapons so we can deal a final blow!"

They nodded, preparing their spells while the two gun blade users continued to shoot and slash and the exotic flying beast.

When the other three were ready, they lunged forward, their hands pointing towards the Interceptor. Said creature was then caught on an onslaught of Wind spells.

It stumbled, doing exactly what they wanted.

Lightning and Hunter were already aiming for the vitals when the three magic users joined them

The Interceptor's tail swept at them, trying to knock one of their feet, only to miss when the all jumped up.

All the creature's attacks were dodged or blocked and soon it was keeling over.

"Finally." Sazh panted, leaning over while putting his hands on his knees. Vanille leaned against a piece of debris.

"Uh huh..." she agreed weakly, panting.

Lightning merely wiped her brow while Hope and Hunter were sitting down on the stone floor. Said pink-haired woman began walking to the end of the clearing. There, there was what looked to be an airship of some sort.

"Sazh." Lightning said, looking up at the device of transportation. "Can you fly this?"

Said man looked at the white machine and scratched at his head as he examined it. He walked towards it saying, "Yeah, but without luck the engine is probably missing."

Vanille pouted at him, "You shouldn't be so negative!"

"Well you shouldn't get your hopes up."

Vanille crossed her arms over her chest in a childish manner before she followed after him, as did the rest of the group.

Hunter looked around the clearing one last time, stopping to squint at something that she hadn't noticed before. A bird. There was a blue bird sitting on a pile of debris, just watching her.

She narrowed her eyes at the animal, because she _knew_ that bird.

"Hunter! C'mon!" Hope called to her, making her look away from the blue bird. When she looked back, the bird was gone.

She then ran to catch up with the others, the bird never escaping her mind.

The bird's name was Chaos, and it belonged to her brother.


	11. Splitting Up

**Chapter 11**

**A/N:** I do not own Final Fantasy 13 or any of its characters. I only own my OCs, Hanley and Hunter Lee.

**Thanks to: **LadyAmazon (_Reviewing_), Sparky the Pixel (_Reviewing_), Snowball girl (_Reviewing_), Atsirk Enoh (_Reviewing_), tamashinonaii (_Following_), Mermaid Pearl (_Following_&_Favoriting_)

**Snowball girl **(Guest)**: **Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you like the story and the cuteness that comes with it! Love ya too! haha :)

**Qin **(Guest)**:** Thanks for reviewing! I appreciate it! And that sounds like a good idea, care to explain it more? :)

* * *

Hunter sat in the back of the airship beside Hope. She was silently looking out the window at the now night sky. Hope was looking...well, at her.

He couldn't help but blush as he took in her features. Her skin was spotless with the exception of some dry blood from recent cuts she took to her face from battle.

Her brown hair cascaded over her shoulders curled at the ends. And the most heart stopping feature had to be her eyes in his opinion. They were such a beautiful blue that reminded him of the color of the ocean.

His heart skipped a beat when she looked his way, her eyes meeting his. "Yes?" she asked, wondering why he was staring so intently at her.

"U-uh nothing!" he replied, looking away quickly. His began to wonder around the interior of the airship, trying to get his mind off how red his face was.

While looking around his eyes met with Vanille's. Said girl was smiling at him as she gestured to Hunter and then back to him with a wink.

He only blushed harder as he glanced at Hunter to back sure she didn't see the embarrassing exchange.

Luckily, she hadn't and was now looking out the window again.

Hope smiled slightly as he gazed at his peer one last time before placing a hand over his heart. For some reason it was beating erratically and he had a pretty good reason why.

Thinking that, he glanced at Hunter before looking at the hand on his heat again. Yes, he knew why his heart was pounding so fiercely. But the question was: Did Hunter's heart beat the same way? Not in general but when she's around him?

Hope kind of wished that was the case. Actually, he hoped for it.

Swallowing hard, he went to tap Hunter's soldier to try and start another conversation that hopefully wouldn't end just as quickly as it started this time. But the airship jerking to the side stopped him and instead made him crash into his crush, slamming her into the window.

"Ah! Sorry!" he apologized, instinctively wrapping his arms around Hunter's shoulders and pulling her into him.

"I'm fine. Thanks." she said, rubbing her head. "What's going on?" she asked just as Lightning began talking to Sazh.

"What was that?" Lightning asked, looking through the windows urgently.

Sazh gritted his teeth, "It's those damn PSICOM soldiers! They found out who we are!"

"And?"

"They're shooting at us!"

"Well, lose them!" Lightning ordered.

Sazh didn't say anything as he held tighter to the controls in his hands. Vanille stood behind his chair, look through the windshield. "Did we lose them?"

"We lost one of them." Sazh replied, pressing a few buttons before returning both of his hands to the controls.

"Well we need to lose _all_ of them!" Lightning exclaimed, looking out the windows of the ship to see multiple other airships shooting at them as they flew at them at full speed.

"Sazh, you can do it!" Vanille said encouragingly, now back in her seat that was behind his.

The ship began to shake again, causing everyone to stumble whether they were standing or not.

Hope leaned over Hunter to look out the window, "They're still behind us!" he yelled, looking back at Sazh.

"I know!" said man yelled back, jerking to controls to the right. The ship then flipped sideways so it could fit through an arch.

Everyone with the exception of Sazh was thrown to the other side of the ship, grunting at the impact with the wall.

"Are you okay?" Hunter asked Hope who was beside her, still holding her.

"Yeah, you?" he asked back, unconsciously looking her over for any injuries.

Hunter just looked at him oddly and slowly replied, "Hope, I'm fine. You can stop checking for injuries."

Hope quickly retreated his arms, "Oh yeah, sorry."

Hunter just nodded as she pulled herself up, being sure to help up also. They quickly climbed into their seats, buckling up.

Lightning quickly pulled herself back together also as she pulled herself into the seat beside Sazh's, buckling herself in.

Vanille climbed back into her seat and followed suit.

The ship had been righted, but it was still flipping over now and then to dodge oncoming hits from the enemy ships.

When the ship got hit again, Lightning cursed in frustration and took the wheel from Sazh's hands, controlling the contraption herself.

Vanille began crying out as the airship got faster and began to flipping again. Sazh's protest were also filling the small aircraft, making it less quiet than before.

Hope and Hunter were leaning forward in their seats so they could see up at the front, hoping to get more on what was going on.

With one final push from Sazh and a 'You wanna die?', Lightning was forced to release the wheel and Sazh resumed control.

He flew the ship into a cave just as Hope asked, "How are you going to lose them!?"

"Got me, kid." Sazh said, gritting his teeth as he dodged the rocks that stuck out.

The cave began to turn into a canyon the further they flew. The walls became closer together, forcing Sazh to flip the airship over again.

"If you can't do it! Let me!" Lightning said, bouncing in her seat from all the bumps.

"No thank you." Sazh replied without hesitation.

He quickly changed the direction of the ship to make it go up, increasing its speed while he was at it.

Vanille screamed in joy as heart sank as if on a ride when the ship made it out of the canyon.

"Not the time, Vanille!" Sazh said, fixing the aircraft so it was upright once again. Sazh looked in the windows and behind the ship, "They're still on us?!" he said upon seeing the enemy ships.

"Damn it!" he cursed when the airship was hit again. He tipped the ship down in between a larger canyon, making it skim the top of the river that flowed between it. "Hang on!" he shouted, firing the guns on the ship at the walls of the canyon, making rocks fall off the sides of it and effectively crashing onto the enemy ships.

"Yes!" Vanille cheered, jumping as much as she could in her seat.

"Don't cheer just yet." Sazh told Vanille, looking through all the windows.

"Why?" she asked, stilling in her seat.

The airship shook, "Because," and then the ship began to descend quickly to the ground, "They shot one of the wings!"

Hearing this, Hope reflexively held Hunter closely. He didn't care about how she would take this, he just wanted to protect the one thing he cared about.

Hunter didn't push Hope away and only wrapped her arms around him also. For some reason she felt safe in his arms. She didn't know why but that was probably the last thing on her mind as the airship crashed to the ground.

* * *

Lightning slowly picked herself up from the ground, holding her throbbing head. She looked around to see everyone still unconscious and very much alive.

She kneeled down to Hope who was closest and gently shook him, "Hey, are you okay?"

The sound of growls quickly made her look up. Above them, on top of a stone ledge were two Pantheons.

Lightning's eyes hardened and she quickly stood up, reaching for her gun blade.

She ignored the stirring of Vanille and Sazh and quickly charged at the Pantheon just as Vanille sat up.

Said girl gasped in her hands at the sight of the two creatures Lightning was fighting and she quickly began shaking Sazh to wake him up fully. "Get up! Quick, wake up!"

Her voice's volume was enough to have Sazh quickly sitting up. It also had awoken Hope who was now groggily coming to.

The preteen propped himself up with his hands as he looked around with squinted eyes, oblivious to Vanille's franticness.

As if realizing something he quickly looked beside him to see Hunter still knocked out cold. He was suddenly wide awake and was now shaking her. "Hunter! Hunter, are you okay?! Wake up!"

His crush slowly opened her dark blue eyes, meeting them with his as she grabbed his hands that were on her shoulders. "Hope..." she sighed, smiling to herself softly before she closed her eyes again.

Hope blushed, not used to her smiling so softly like that. Her saying his name like that wasn't much help either. '_Is she still out of it?_' he thought to himself, lifting her up so she was sitting. "Hunter, you have to wake up! We're under attack!"

The young brunette grunted as she slowly made herself stand up on shaky feet. Hope stood up with her, never removing his arms from around her in which she seemed to lean into.

Hope gulped when Hunter leaned further into him, her head burying itself in her neck. A slight pink was painted across her face and her lips were slightly parted as to help her breath easier. "H-Hunter...c'mon..." Hope said, sucking in his breath when Hunter nuzzled more into him.

He looked over to where Vanille had been, hoping to ask for help but was only met with empty ground. She and Sazh had most likely already left to help Lightning up ahead.

"This bad. This is bad. This bad." Hope repeated as he looked around the clearing where they had crashed at. The ship was still there, smoking with most of the parts shattered.

He then looked down at where Hunter was previously laying and saw something that startled him, making him gasp and jump back a couple steps with Hunter still in his arms.

Hunter had been lying right beside a small patch of tall grass before Hope had picked her up, and now, looking at it he saw a slightly large blue bird with a vial in its mouth. A vial that was empty with the exception of few drops of leftover purple liquid.

Hope looked at the corners of Hunter's mouth and saw a dried spot of purple on one of them. His eyes widened and he looked back at the tall grass only to find that the bird had disappeared.

"Drugged?" he asked himself, leaning in closer to further examine the small splotch of purple on the corner oh Hunter's mouth. He couldn't help but blush despite the situation because of how close his lips were to hers.

Gulping, he stood back up straight and lifted Hunter's legs so he was carrying her in his arms. He ran towards the others, and hid behind a rock closest to them.

Hopefully one of the adults would know what was given to Hunter.

Thinking of the worst, Hope frowned and held Hunter closer to himself. As a last thought, a tilted his head down and lightly pecked Hunter's forehead.

Yes, his face was red and burning, and he wondered where that burst of confidence came from. "Please be alright." he whispered to the girl in his lap, pressing his face into her hair.

Hunter moved slightly in his arms, making her wrist fall from its place in her lap. Hope moved to place it back, being sure to dodge the bandage on it. He didn't want to accidentally open her wound. Why else would she have a bandage there, right?

His attempts to avoid the bandage failed because as soon as he left her hand they unraveled themselves.

"Ah!" Hope exclaimed as he went to re-bandage Hunter's wrist. He slowly took off the rest of the material and felt his eyes widen at what he saw.

Her brand was right before his eyes. He had yet to see it and silently wished he hadn't. Seeing her brand made his heart clench. It was the same feeling he had felt when he saw his mother fall to her death.

Her brand was on the second stage. At least that was what he thought. All he knew for sure was that it was more developed than his and the others. That fact scared him to death.

He _really_ wanted to talk to Light and the others now.

"Hope?" a voice asked, as if answering to Hope's wishes.

The white-haired boy quickly looked up to see Vanille peeking over the edge of the rock. "Are you okay?" she asked. "C'mon out, its all clear now!"

Vanille's smile turned into a frown as she saw Hope stand up, Hunter still in his arms. At first she just thought they had finally confessed their feelings and were keeping close to each other because of that, but now... Now she was worried. She didn't know Hunter was still unconscious, or was she...

"Hope, what's wrong with Hunter!? Is she okay!?" Vanille quickly asked, moving closer to look at Hunter.

Sazh and Lightning heard Vanille's outburst and quickly made their way over. "What's wrong?" Lightning asked, worry in her eyes.

Hope bit his lip, hoping he wouldn't cry or anything. "I don't know! I-I think she was drugged or something! I-I just don't know! And, and her brand! Look at her brand!"

Vanille gasped as she lifted Hunter's now exposed wrist. "Oh my goodness! Lightning what do we do?!"

"Wait, Vanille do you know any purple liquids?" Hope asked, looking to Vanille.

Vanille bit her lip in thought, "The only one I know of is the Rapture Elixir. It's not like an ordinary elixir. A normal elixir will increase your energy and restore your strength. The Rapture Elixir is has...the exact opposite effects..."

"Can we do something!?"

"Y-yeah, we just need a couple sanar berries-"

"Then let's go! We _need_ to go!"

Sazh spoke up, "I think we should camp for the night. Hunter is probably she sleeping and will wake up when the sun rises."

"No! She's not _just_ 'sleeping'!" Hope argued, holding Hunter tighter.

"We need to keep moving. We're being tracked by the enemy and we need to find those plants for Hunter." Lightning said, putting a hand on Hope's shoulder as she stared at Sazh with a hard expression.

"But we're tired! We don't have the same stamina as you!" Sazh said as he sat himself on a rock. Vanille joined him, bowing her head. "If we push ourselves any further then we'll pass out!"

Lightning glared at him, "Then don't come."

The soldier turned to Hope and slowly took Hunter from his arms, prying his fingers off of her. Without another word, Lightning walked away, carrying her former student in her arms.

Hope glanced back at Sazh and Vanille he nodded at him before he ran after Lightning.


	12. Sanar Berries

**Chapter 12**

**A/N:** I do not own Final Fantasy 13 or any of its characters. I only own my OCs, Hanley and Hunter Lee.

**Thanks to: **Sparky the Pixel (_Reviewed_), LadyAmazon (_Reviewed_), Atsirk Enoh (_Reviewed_), legionfulminante (_Favorited_), MCRDanime (_Reviewed_&_Favorited_), Starla123 (_Favorited_&_Reviewed_&_Followed_), slytheringirl22 (_Favorited_&_Followed_), April Marciano (_Favorited_), thehomiewhowrites (_Favorited&Followed_&_Reviewed_), a1m0stxfam0us (_Favorited_),scormier (_Favorited_&_Followed_), DarknessPwnsLight (_Followed_), Minipichu (_Favorited_)

**Stella H** (Guest)**:** Thanks! I'm really happy to know you enjoy this story so much that you reread it XD I extremely apologize for the late update!

...

Sorry for the long wait guys. I've been out of town for the past month :/ I bring good news though, there is now a link for Courage's playlist on my profile. There is also s link one on my site if you'd rather go there to check it out. And I think I've found a theme for this story. (Emphasis on 'think') "Bittersweet Sundown" by Framing Hanley

* * *

"Just you?" Lightning asked when the white-haired boy caught up with her. Hope nodded, giving the unconscious Hunter a worried stare.

"Y-yeah."

Lightning nodded, her hard expression never leaving her face as she looked around at the wildlife. "Let's find those berries."

Hope nodded, beginning to look around for the purple fruits. Lightning looked through the bushes, being sure to keep Hunter secure in her hold; the woman was too paranoid to lay the young brunette down anywhere.

"Anything?" Hope called out to the older woman, not getting luck on his side of the path.

Lightning shook her head, calling back to the boy. "Nothing, we should looked somewhere with more plants." The pink-haired woman had a point. The place they were at now barely had any plants. If there were any there they were shriveled up and dead.

Not seeing why he should disagree, Hope nodded as he followed after Lightning. He stood on her left side so he could be near Hunter's head. That way he could tell if she was awake or not; he could only hope for the best in this kind of situation.

And he _really_ hated that.

Being helpless was not something he liked, and he had plenty of experience with it already. '_I'll become stronger._' he promised to himself, '_I need to protect the people I care about!_'

"Hope." Lightning said, calling the preteen out of his thoughts. "This place looks promising."

Not understanding her at first, Hope blinked before looking around dumbly. "Oh. Yeah." he finally answered after seeing the greenery surrounding them. "I'll look over there." he said, pointing over to a small clearing past the bushes that sat on the edge of the path.

"Fine. I'll be over here." At that, Lightning walked to the other side of the path before gently lying Hunter down on a small patch of grass. "You better not die on me..." she whispered to the girl.

As if to reply, Hunter's nose twitched and Lightning felt a faint smile cross her features before it disappeared. Praying to her maker, Lightning left Hunter to find the sanar berries.

On Hope's side, he wasn't getting any luck so far. All he found was the natural berries that someone could buy from the town's local store. Of course he collected them, just in case someone would be hungry later. He had put them in the pocket of his pants when he heard a squawk from above.

Looking up, Hope's eyes narrowed at the sight of a familiar blue bird. "You..." he almost felt himself snarl. "What do you want!?" he snapped, picking up loose dirt and thrusting it at the bird. "Go away! It's your fault!"

When the bird took to the air, Hope followed after it as he continued to pick up whatever he could get his hands on. "It's your fault she-she..." he felt himself begin to choke on his own words. He wanted to cry and sob out all the emotions he was feeling at that moment.

He suddenly realized Hope was so emotionless and kept everything hidden. It was because she didn't want to have to experience so much hurt and pain again.

Then again, Hope wasn't like her. He actually enjoyed feelings; the happy ones that is. He enjoyed laughter and excitement, and sometimes even the anxiousness.

He especially loved the odd feeling he got when he was around Hunter.

That was the best one.

"Damn it!" he cursed, watching as the blue bird flew from his sight. He cursed again when he felt the small drops of tears flow out of his eyes and down his cheeks. "I hate crying..." he muttered, wiping away the drops of water and probably getting dirt on his face.

Looking around again, Hope suddenly felt a sinking feeling. "Crap..." he whispered, his eyes widening in terror.

He was lost.

Hope did a 360, trying to figure out where he came from. In mid-turn he stopped, his eyes focusing on something that stood out from all the green. It was purple and after fully seeing it, Hope felt like his maker was smiling down at him.

"Sanar berries!" he practically cheered, running closer to the miracle fruits. He snatched them off of the vine, running in a random direction and hoping it was the correct one.

He got what he wanted when he returned to the path and saw Hunter still in the small patch of grass. "Lightning!" he called, rushing over to Hunter. "I found them! I found the sanar berries!"

"You did?" Lightning said, seemingly surprised and relieved at the same time. She appeared through the bushes, quickly making her way to Hunter and Hope. "Let me see."

"Here." Hope said, smiling as he dropped the berries in Lightning's hands. The woman smiled and she felt a weight lift off her shoulders.

"Good." she mumbled, lifting up Hunter's head. "Now we need to find away to give them to her..."

"Huh?" Hope asked, getting scared all over again at the thought of everything crashing down and burning to ash.

"Listen. I never want to see you do this again, but I need you to do it right now for Hunter's sake."

"What? What is it?! I'll do it!"

Lightning sighed, wanting to rub her temples. She really didn't want any boy to be locking lips with Hunter. The girl was something like a daughter to her and she _really _wasn't comfortable with giving her away to someone. "Put these in your mouth." she ordered, handing the sanar berries back to Hope. "Chew them slightly, but _don't_ swallow."

Hope gave her an odd look, but slowly took the berries before tossing them in his mouth and chewing. "Mmmm hmmm?" he asked through his closed mouth, it roughly translating to 'Now what?'

"Now you kiss her."

Hope's eyes looked like they'd pop out of his head, "MMMM?!"

"It's the only way we can get her to eat it. Now do it."

Not wanting to argue any longer, Hope nodded as he bent down towards Hunter. His cheeks flamed as his lips hovered over hers and he gently lifted her head up for better access.

As his lips met hers, Hope unconsciously closed his eyes while transferring the berries into Hunter's mouth. After they reached the inside of Hunter's mouth, Hope found his lips lingering on hers for a second longer before he pulled away.

If Lightning was anyone else she would've fell on her ass laughing at how red Hope's was. Instead she only watched as he lightly touched his lips while gazing down at Hunter. "Alright," she said, snapping him back to reality. "She should wake later. For now, let's get moving."

Hope nodded, walking along with her after she picked up Hunter again. As an afterthought, Hope looked at Lightning with a serious glint in his eyes. "I won't slow you down."

If the woman was surprised by his announcement, she hid it well. "Good." she replied, moving a little faster so they could hurry and get to the wall she could see ahead.


End file.
